Harry Potter and the Torch of Darkness
by Define Normal
Summary: Years ago, a weapon was created. Not a weapon with the power to kill, but a weapon in the same respects. They thought it had disappeared forever. Were they ever wrong. Post GoF!!!! This is a story by 3 Authors!!!! Malena, Tadariada, and SEEKER_2000!!! R/R
1. Here we go again

A.N. Howdy! Hi! Hello! In case you didn't know, there is not just one author writing this story. Nope! There are three!!!!! This is a story by Tadariada, Malena, and SEEKER_2000!!!!! Well, we hope that you enjoy this!!!!! Please review!!!!!! All flames will be used to set Snape's robes on fire. If we don't get any flames…. Well… we'll set his robes on fire anyway for the heck of it. 

Tadariada, Malena, and SEEKER_2000

It was almost pitch black outside. A dark fog covered the small graveyard that faded into the distance. Peter Pettigrew, or Wormtail, who was standing by the window of the moldy old house that sat on the hill, struggled to see where he and the other Death Eaters would be meeting that night. Ah yes, there it was. Right in that circle of graves, the one with the angel with the broken wing. IN his mind he could picture where each of the Death Eaters would stand. He would be between Macnair and Crabbe, two insolent Ministry workers. They completely ignored Wormtail, along with most of the other Death Eaters. He didn't mind, because they could have been doing much worse things than ignoring him…

Wormtail's shifty eyes looked over the marble headstone that only a month or so ago had been where Harry Potter had been tied up. The scenes flashed before his eyes as he remembered the flash of green light meeting the red light and becoming golden… he remembered the web that had concealed his master and his former friend's son. 

Wormtail nearly jumped out of his skin as he felt something slither past his leg. A giant snake was looking up at him, and it seemed to glare. It raised it's scaly head so it was level with Wormtail's and flicked it's tongue out. 

"Stop that Nagini," said a cold voice from the doorway. Wormtail jumped again as another figure walked smoothly into the room and started to lightly stroke the snake on the head. 

"Wormtail, it is time…" The voice said. 

"Yes my lord," Wormtail said, starting to shake a bit. 

"Your arm please."

Wormtail extended his harm before his master, a black tattoo of a skull imprinted on his upper arm. A cold finger pressed onto the skull and Wormtail gave a whimper. 

"Shut up Wormtail."

"I'm sorry my lord," Wormtail replied, biting his lip so hard that he was afraid it was going to start bleeding. 

"Lord Voldemort does not like weaklings such as you," he said. "Be happy that you're still with us."

"Yes my lord, I am my lord."

"Good… now let us go down to the graveyard. They've started arriving." Lord Voldemort swept out of the room, his enormous snake slithering after him. 

Wormtail scrambled out of the room, and ran to the graveyard to take his place in the circle. 

There was about two hundred of them. Two hundred Death Eaters, all of them waiting to do his bidding. A small smile played his lips as he looked around. No one was speaking. The only sound was his boots as his paced around the inside of the circle. 

"Welcome Death Eaters," he said softly. Most of them bowed and murmured, "My Lord."

"As I mentioned in our last meeting, we are several Death Eaters short," he said. "In order to keep our group strong we need more. We need to recruit. We need to ask around, seeing if anyone shares our dream. Seeing if anyone wants a bit of our power… our genius."

"Yes my lord," said several Death Eaters softly. 

"Well then, let the recruitment begin."

~*~

"Harry!" Ron yelled from his broomstick. "Are you alive up there?"

"Yes." Harry shouted down and made a turn on his broom to prove it. They were in the Weasley's back yard playing Quidditch. Harry, who was usually so fast and alert when playing, seemed dulled today. He was barely moving and the look on his face was far from excitement. 

The Snitch darted into view. Ron looked at it and then looked at Harry. Harry didn't notice it at all. He was just staring into space. He couldn't be tired- he always slept in half the day, but he was distant. Too distant. The snitch darted away again. Ron sighed. 

Harry swayed on his broom suddenly, making it scoop slightly. He blinked slowly, shutting his eyes for a few seconds.

He was thinking about the dreams he had been having recently. None of them made to much sense to him, but they scared him all the same. People were always getting killed in his dreams- not people he knew thankfully- but people all the same. And in many of them he was murdered too. Most of them weren't real. He knew that, because he couldn't die four different times, but that didn't mean that he wasn't a little afraid anyways.

Sometimes when you think about something- it reminds you of something else and then your thinking will just go deeper and deeper. Harry had been thinking about his dream last night, when he was suddenly reminded of a Dark arts lesson. So he dwelled on Moody for a while until he was reminded of the third task. 

That was when he swayed on his broom- when he thought about Cedric. Ron and Hermione, George and Fred all stopped what they were doing to look at him.

"Harry?" Hermione called.

Harry didn't seem to notice her.

"Harry, you aren't being funny!" Fred said. "Stop doing things like that!" Harry's broom scooped again. He wasn't blinking.

Harry didn't notice what was going on around him. All he saw was a graveyard around him and Voldemort there, pointing a wand at Harry. It was more of a daydream, than a flashback really. For in Harry's daydream Voldemort suddenly said, "You shall die as a coward like your parents."

And then Harry was spinning into a world of darkness. 

~* ~* ~* ~*

Somebody was shaking Harry very gently. "Wake up! Wake up blast you!"

"Harry, that fall wasn't that bad- only 20 feet. Don't die on us now."

"You didn't even break a bone…wake up! Wake up blast you!"

"Harry…"

The voices swam in his head for a moment until he could process them.

"This is pointless."

"Ginny! For shame."

"Sorry mum, I'm just sayin' he isn't waking up!"

"You go make dinner."

"I think I'm going to call Mungo's…" 

"No!"

"Why not."

"The press will swarm all over and Harry'll never be allowed to come here again."

"I suppose."

Harry grunted and tried to move. His body ached all over. 

"Oh! He's waking!" Molly Weasley said in a hushed voice. "I feel so much less unnerved now."

"I'm- I'm hungry." He said and opened his eyes. He saw 20 hazy faces peering at him.

"How can you be hungry!" One said. Harry's eyes focused and there were only 10 faces now.

"Didn't eat breakfast." Harry said. 

"You- you!" Hermione said. "I don't know whether to smack you- or kiss you. We were so scared."

"You're always scared about something." Harry said. He groaned and tried to sit up, but his head spun to much. He lay back down. "Did I fall off my broom?"

"Did you ever!" Fred said. "What's with you lately, Harry?"

"Nothing." Harry said hastily. "I'm just- tired."

~*~

Ron was lying on his back, staring up at the Quidditch players that were zooming across his ceiling. His thoughts, however, were back at the Quidditch Pitch when Harry fell off his broom. What had he been thinking about up there? Obviously it was something horrible, for Harry had only fallen off his broom one time before and that was when there were Dementors around…

Ron rolled over restlessly. Pig was in his cage, making little whoo-ing sounds. Hedwig was in the cage beside Pig's, her head tucked under her wing. Harry was lying in a sleeping bag that had been placed on a cot. Ron rolled over again staring at the moon that was shining through his window. The stars twinkled merrily at him, and started to coax him toward slumber. 

Minutes after Ron had fallen asleep he was awoken again by his roommate screaming hysterically.


	2. The Dream Team

A.N. Thank you to all of you who reviewed!!!!!!!! Don't worry, this isn't taking time away from our other stories!!!!!!!!! (Malena- And I finished Children of the Order, for those of you who didn't know that…) Well, I hope that you enjoy this chapter!!!!!! Please review!!!!!!!!

SEEKER_2000, Malena, and Tadariada

Disclaimer: We don't own anything!!!!! The lines that were borrowed from GoF belong to J.K. as well as all of the characters!!!!! We're just borrowing them for a bit! Don't worry, we'll return them all okay (well, except for Snape maybe… he might have some burnt robes…)

Ron woke with a start. Someone was screaming. He sat up quickly, and

looked around wildly. Harry was asleep, shaking like mad and screaming. Ron twisted madly to scramble out of his sheets. There were a lot of noises coming from down the hall, and Ron could hear the BANG as a door shot open from a bedroom across the hall. 

"WHAT IN THE NAME OF MERLIN'S MAGICAL NAME IS HAPPENING?" Ron recognized as Fred's voice screeching. Ron ran over to the doorway, and was nearly trampled by several people coming into his room. 

"Shhh! It's Harry." Ron whispered sharply, pointing to the still asleep figure of Harry. Harry was still tossing and turning, but had stopped screaming. "He's having a nightmare!" Ron explained quickly to the crowd that had gathered in his room. Fred, George, his parents, and Hermione were all breathing heavily and looking around shocked.

"Well that is one hell of a nightmare!" George said incredulously.

"He has them every night, but never like this." Ron said bitterly, sitting back down on his

."What?" Arthur Weasley asked. "Why haven't you told us son?" Ron sighed and rubbed his eyes. "I dunno..."

"Kids...let's go downstairs and talk about this...I don't want to wake Harry up." Mrs. Weasley said gently and headed for the door. They nodded to each other and walked out of the room down the stairs.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

In the kitchen, Nobody seemed in the moment. Ron was pacing, twisting his hands

together and Arthur was staring off into space. "What are we going to do?" George voiced, breaking the silence.

Arthur sighed and stopped his staring. "I don't know son." Mrs. Weasley had her head in her hands.

"What could he be dreaming about?" She said. "It's worrying me to pieces. I can't stand to see him in so much pain. Have you seen his eyes? They're so dull..."

"Their is a way..." Hermione said shakily. "I read about a potion that causes you to be able to go into someone else's dreams...."

"What?" George said. "You mean you want to barge into his dreams? I don't think he'd

like that much.".

Ron stopped and looked at Hermione. "Is...is it a hard potion?"

"You can't be serious! That's like....like invading his privacy..."George said.

"Oh, and like you don't ever read Ginny's diary..." Ron spat back.

"A diary is one thing Ron!" George said, his ears getting pink

Ron turned back to his dad, an eager glint in his eye. "Can we dad? Can we go in his dreams? I can't stand not knowing what happened to him. He's practically ill, and I don't know what I can do to help him!"

"Ron..." Hermione said in a dangerous tone.

"What?" Ron said turning to her. "You can't possibly tell me that you don't want to help him."

Hermione glared at him. "Oh of course I want to help him Ron! It's just

that the potion I'm talking about is very dangerous!"

"Screw all that, I don't care about the danger of it! You can get killed walking down the bloody street."

"Oh come off it Ron...Harry won't be too happy if he finds out." Fred said quietly.

Ron glared at the room. He made contact with every single person before he spoke again.

"I'm going to find out what's wrong with him, no matter what. I will do this with or without your help, but without it will take longer..."

~*~

"Okay, so we've got everything planned?" Ron asked, looking into the cauldron that was bubbling in the kitchen. 

"Almost," Mrs. Weasley said. "We just need to let it simmer for a bit longer."

"What is that smell?" 

Ron jumped and spun around. Harry was standing at the doorway, sniffing. 

"I-er-I'm making some medicine for Ron," Mrs. Weasley said.

Harry frowned with concern and said, "Are you okay Ron?"

"Er… yes, he is," Mrs. Weasley said. "Just a bit of a cold." She elbowed Ron slightly.

"OW-er-AHH-COUGH!" Ron exclaimed. 

Harry sniggered. "You sneeze weird." Ron gave a smile and a shrug. Harry grinned, yawned, and walked out. 

"That was supposed to be a cough," Ron said, sounding a little frustrated. 

~*~

Ron was lying awake. It was almost midnight. Harry was snoring softly on his camp bed, and his dreams seemed to be untroubled. They had taken the potion right before they went to bed, so they would be ready to Dream Hop at any second. 

There was a soft tap on the door and Mrs. Weasley peeked inside.

"Anything yet?" she whispered. Ron shook his head. Mrs. Weasley turned and started to close the door, when Harry shuddered violently on his bed. 

"Mum! Wait!" Ron said, throwing back his covers. Harry shuddered again and let out a gasp. 

"Come on! Now! Go get Hermione and Fred," Ron said, getting out of bed and crouching down next to his friend. A moment later Mrs. Weasley had reappeared at the doorway with Hermione and Fred. 

"What do we do now?" Ron asked, looking down at his friend. 

"Touch him and say _Endrayopay_," Mrs. Weasley commanded. Ron gently touched Harry on the shoulder and repeated what his mother had said. Hermione and Fred followed suit. 

Ron was falling through darkness. Wind was whipping around him and it reminded him of Floo Powder traveling. Suddenly he landed on the ground with a loud THUD! 

"Mum never said anything about Dream Hopping hurting," Ron grumbled, getting up and dusting off his pajamas. There were three more loud thuds, signaling the arrival of Hermione, Fred, and Mrs. Weasley.

"Heavens, that was a drop!" Mrs. Weasley said as Fred helped her to her feet. 

"Where are we?" Hermione asked, looking around in the night. 

"I don't know," Fred said. "Doesn't look like anyplace I've ever seen before." 

"In Harry's dream you idiot," Ron said. 

"We know that," Hermione snapped. "But… where?"

"Oh my god," Mrs. Weasley gasped. She was pointing at something. They were on top of a hill looking down at a graveyard.

"What?" Ron asked, squinting through the darkness.

"Harry." She was shaking slightly. In the middle of the graveyard was Harry, tied to a gravestone. Light from a bubbling cauldron was flickering on his face. There was a look on his face unlike anything Ron had ever seen before. It looked like a mixture of fear and horror. 

"Harry!" Hermione shrieked. 

"He can't hear you-"

"B-blood of the enemy… forcibly taken… you will… resurrect your foe," stuttered a new voice from in the graveyard.

"Who is that!?" Ginny screamed. She was pointing at a figure that was staggering over to Harry. "What is he-AHHH!" 

The figure had just stuck a knife into Harry's arm. Harry's eyes snapped shut, and nothing could voice the pain he was experiencing. Hermione and Ginny hid their faces and Ron and Fred could only look on in horror as the figure took a vial out of its robes and took some of the blood that was dribbling down Harry's robes.

"That is sick…" George gasped. "Who would-"

"Ron!" Hermione exclaimed, grasping onto Ron's arm painfully. "That's-that's Sca-Wormtail!" 

"What-" Mrs. Weasley said.

"SHH!" They both said. 

There was a mist covering the graveyard now. Through the mist they could see something rising out of the large cauldron that was in the middle of the gravestones. 

"What the-" 

There was a cold voice, saying something that they couldn't hear. Wormtail scrambled forward. A second later a man stepped out of the cauldron and turned around, so they could see them. 

Three loud screams pierced the air. Hermione, Ginny, and Ron had all backed away suddenly, horrified of what they saw standing before Harry. 

"Wh-What is that?!" Fred said in a disgusted voice.

"It… could only be… one person," Mrs. Weasley gasped. "You-Know-Who." 

Hermione whimpered. 

Voldemort had turned to Harry and was saying something. 

The four people up on the hill got deathly quiet so they would be able to hear what was going on. 

"You stand, Harry Potter, upon the remains of my late father," said the hideous creature that was pacing in front of Harry. "A Muggle and a fool… very like your dear mother. But they both had their uses, did they not? Your mother died to defend you as a child…"

Suddenly Ron and the others were lifted up off their feet and found themselves falling through darkness again…

~*~

"I wonder what's going on?" George said, looking in on his little brother's room. 

Mr. Weasley, who was standing beside George, shrugged slightly and looked at where his wife, children, and Hermione were sitting. They each had a hand on Harry's arm or back, and they all had blank looks on their face. Harry shuddered again. 

"I hope they're okay," George said. 

"Don't worry, they are," Mr. Weasley said. "Dream Hopping can't hurt anyone physically."

George simply nodded…

~*~

They had traveled to a new scene. They were still in the graveyard, but they were closer to Harry and Voldemort.   
Ron yelled out when he saw what was going on. Death Eaters had appeared and were standing in a circle around Harry and Voldemort. There was a giant web of golden light surrounding them. Voldemort was shrieking at them, "Do nothing unless I command you!" 

Ron turned and looked at Hermione, who was mouthing wordlessly in horror. 

Something was going on in the web of light, and suddenly there were loud echoing screams coming from the web. Then, through the top of the web a smoky, silver hand floated away.   
"What on earth…" Mrs. Weasley gasped as a figure walked out of the golden web. 

"Tha-That-That's-" Ginny stuttered.

"Cedric Diggory?" Fred gasped. "But-"

There were more screams coming from the cage of golden light and then another figure walked out. An old man that none of them had ever seen before. Seconds later a new voice came from inside the web. 

"Don't let him get you, Harry- don't let go!" 

And then Bertha Jorkins walked out as well. 

"How the hell is that happening?" Fred yelled.

"_Priori Incantatem_," Hermione said. "I've read about it! But I've never read about this-"

Ron was staring into the web, and could see a new ghost-person appearing. Ron had seen this person in the pictures that Harry had shown him.

"Is that-"

"Shh!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed.

"Your father's coming," said a female voice. "He wants to see you… it will be all right… hold on…" 

"That's Lily Potter," Mrs. Weasley gasped. Another figure had appeared. He looked like Harry… "And that's James!" 

Ron could only imagine what Harry was thinking. He was actually seeing his parents….

Something new was happening. The ghost-like people were circling around the cage. Ron felt a bit of satisfaction when he saw the horrified looks on the Death Eater's face. He glanced back into the web and saw James whispering something to Harry. 

"NOW!" he heard Harry burst out and he broke the connection that had been connecting the wands together. 

"GO HARRY!" Fred bellowed. Harry, of course, didn't pay any attention to the people yelling at him to run faster. Harry had started toward the body of Cedric, but the scene faded again and they were falling through blackness once more.

~*~

They were standing in front of a house. Ron had never seen it before. Hermione was gasping and whimpering from what they had just witnessed. 

"Where are we now?" Ginny asked, looking fearful of what was yet to come. 

"Godric's Hollow," Fred replied. 

"How do you know that?" Ron asked. Fred pointed to a sign.

GODRIC'S HOLLOW

"Why does this not feel right?" Ron said. 

"Maybe it's because we're inside a dream!" Ginny shrieked. "We should get out of here. NOW!"

"But we don't know if this adds to what Harry is scared of…" Ron said. "I'm going into that house."

"Ron-wait!" Hermione yelled as Ron tramped across the lawn and up to the door. He pushed the door open and walked inside. There was some music playing on the radio. A man, a woman, and a baby were sitting at the kitchen table. The baby was gurgling something while the woman attempted to feed him something. 

"Oh my god…" Hermione gasped, for she had followed Ron into the room. "That's-"

"I know."

"Then we're going to see-"

"Perhaps."

"Ron."

"Yes?" 

"I'm scared." Ron stared at Hermione. It had been the first time that she had admitted that…

"So am I," Ron said. Suddenly the door burst open. Hermione screamed and jumped out of the way as Voldemort swept into the house. 

"Lily! Take Harry and run!" yelled James, getting up from the table and taking out his wand. 

Lily scooped up the child who had cried out when Voldemort had appeared in the house. She bolted up the stairs with the squirming child in her arms.

James had shot a spell at Voldemort. The Dark Lord laughed slightly. There was a flash of green light, a rushing sound, and James fell limply to the ground. Dead.

Voldemort then followed the steps up to where Lily and Harry were… 

Ron started to follow, but he stopped at the sound of Lily screaming. 

"No! Please! Not Harry! Take me instead-" There was more screaming and then all was quiet…

There was a sobbing sound from behind Ron and Hermione. Mrs. Weasley had come into the house, and was crying. Suddenly there was a huge BOOM and a huge flash of green light. Then everything faded into blackness… 


	3. Bob

A.N. Thank you to everyone who reviewed!!! Sorry it took so long to get this chapter out!!! We'll try and get the next out faster, but we all have kinda different schedules… In the meantime, please remember to review!!!  
Luv yas!

Tadariada, Malena, and SEEKER-2000 (In case you didn't know, ff.net no longer allows underscores, so SEEKER had to change her name from SEEKER_2000 to SEEKER-2000) 

Early that morning Molly explained to everyone what happened in the dream. Fred and Ron were silent, but Hermione sat sniffing in her chair. 

"I still can't believe you did that," George said. 

"You know what sucks big time? We didn't learn anything new," Ron said.

Hermione wiped some tears out of her eyes, "What do you mean?" 

Ron sighed. "What good did any of that information do? All we know now is that Harry is reliving horrors in his past. How in the world are we going to be able to help him with that information." 

The room was silent. No one knew the answer to that question.

~*~

Harry walked into the kitchen the next morning, yawning and stretching. The quiet chatter that had been

going on as he was arriving stopped immediately. Harry, who wasn't the noisiest boy in the world took no notice and sat down. 

Hermione was looking at him funny as he buttered his toast. 

"Got something on my face, have I Hermione?" Harry said after a few moments. 

She burst out into tears. Harry's eyebrows furrowed. 

"Did I say something wrong?" He said. "It was only a joke." 

"I-I-" She sobbed. "Just have something in my eye. Excuse me." She pushed her chair out from the

table and left the room with remarkable speed for somebody wearing slippers and a huge robe. 

"Well that was odd, eh Ron?" Harry said, elbowing his friend. "Ron?" Ron took his spoon full of his

porridge and let the contents drip slowly back into his bowl. Harry looked around. It seemed as if nobody

wanted to look him in the eye. "What is it? What have I missed? Did the doctor call and say I have three

hours to live?" He joked. Nobody laughed. "Well, if that's not it what is it then?" 

Ron looked over at his mother, who nodded. "Well- er- last night you were going- crazy in your sleep.

You know muttering and screaming and shaking and...." He trailed off. 

"What's that got to do with anything?" Harry asked, blushing slightly. "That's nothing-er- serious." 

"Oh." Hermione moaned, walking back into the room with a box of tissues. "That's not even the worst of it." 

Harry looked around wildly. Still nobody met his eyes. "What's the worst of it?" 

"We- wanted to help you." Hermione said. "So we- we-

"You what?" Harry said slowly, dreading the answer. 

"Dream hopped." Ron and Hermione said together, quietly. 

There was a very pregnant pause. 

"You. Did. _What_?" Harry said slowly, in a deadly tone. 

"Dream hopping." Hermione squeaked. "When you go into another persons-" 

"I know what it is, Hermione." Harry said. "Helping me? Helping me by doing what? Prying into my personal life?" 

"Don't get mad at her," Ron said. "It was my idea. But we wouldn't have if you hadn't been acting so mysterious!"

"Maybe I have reasons for the way I act. Maybe I don't want you knowing everything that goes on in my mind." Harry said, shaking slightly. "Wait... we?" 

"Harry, dear we-" Mrs. Weasley began. 

"How many of you went." Harry said suddenly. "How many?" 

Slowly, very slowly the guilty members rose their hands. Harry took a long breath in and stared at them all with the coldest, saddest look they had ever seen. 

Hermione couldn't take it any longer. She ran over to Harry and reached out for his shoulder. "Oh Harry I'm so-" She cried in a frantic voice. Harry jerked away from Hermione and just stared at all of them.

"I thought it was for the best." Ron said. "I really did." 

"Well you thought wrong." Harry hissed. He stormed out of the room, slamming the front door behind him. 

~* ~* ~* ~*

It was late in the night now, and Harry still hadn't come back home. It had started to rain. Everybody was nervous. Molly was sitting by the kitchen window, staring into the front garden. Hermione was positioned at the window by the back door. Ron was pacing and Fred and George weren't saying anything at all. Arthur and Percy

were playing a very slow game of chess and Ginny was sitting on a couch, pretending to read a book. The

air in the house was tense and nobody was talking except for an occasional grunt from the two playing chess. 

Ron stopped pacing. "I've had enough." He said. "I'm off to go look for him." He grabbed his cloak and walked out the front door. 

~* ~* ~* ~* 

Ron was far away from the house when he decided to take a rest. Patches of trees were springing up every so often and Ron leaned against one of them now, anger building in his chest. Leaves rustled in the tree next to him and he jumped. 

Ron looked around wildly, expecting to see some awful creature ready to pounce on him. There was nothing of that sort- but what he did see was a leg, dangling down from a thick branch. 

"Who's up there?" He called. 

"Go away." Came a muffled voice. 

"Harry?" Ron said. 

"What." 

"Why are you in a tree?" 

"Piss off Ron, didn't I tell you to go away?" Harry said. 

"Get down from there." Ron said crossing his arms. 

"No." Was the pert reply. 

"Get down from there or I'll- I'll-" 

"You'll what Ron?" Harry said sarcastically, his face appearing through some leaves. "Go through my dreams again? Listen, the next time you want to find out something about me, just go and check out a book. There's bound to be one out anytime about all of my problems." 

"Oh step off your soap box." Ron said. "And get down here. I want to punch you." 

"Well that is a sure fire way to get me down there." Harry mumbled, but he did come out of his tree. 

"You're an ass, Harry." Ron said. "I can't believe you ran away. You had everybody really scared." He socked Harry squarely in the stomach. 

Harry fell to the ground, taken by surprise. He got up, clutching his belly. "I suppose I deserved that." He croaked. "Seeing as I am the one that did an illegal potion to eavesdrop on your dreams." He swung a

blow at Ron's face, but he darted aside and grabbed Harry's fist. Instinctively Harry brought the fist

towards his own chest, enabling Ron to move his right arm. Harry took his other arm and placed it under

Ron's elbow and began lifting it up. 

Ron yelled in horror and yanked his hand away before Harry broke his arm. 

"Where did you learn that?" Ron said, Harry and him slowly circling. 

Harry jumped forward and punched Ron in the lower stomach. 

"I live with my cousin, remember?" Harry said. Ron composed himself. 

"Right." He said. They continued to circle. He aimed a blow at Harry, who darted out of the way. Harry

tried and missed. 

"You're pretty bad at this." Ron taunted. Harry glared at him. And then he remembered something. When

Hermione had met Sirius, she had high kicked him. It had nearly knocked the wind out of him. And Sirius

was a full grown man. 

Harry grinned and lashed a leg out at Ron. 

But Ron had five older brothers. He knew how to fight. He grabbed Harry's foot and yanked it. Harry fell to the ground. 

"There. I win," Ron panted. Harry gave a short nod, panting. And then he swung his foot around and knocked Ron on his back. 

"I don't think so," Harry replied, smirking. 

Ron gave a short laugh. 

"So, if you aren't going to come back to the Burrow, where are you going to stay?" Ron asked. Both of them were still lying on the ground. 

"Here. I've already befriended someone, and he said I could stay with him. Bob."

""Bob? What's a bob?" 

"My new BEST FRIEND. He's small, furry and fits into most overhead storage bins." Harry said, looking completely serious. "He's a squirrel."

"Oh," Ron said, pretending to be sad. He gave a loud sniff. "I see how it is. You-you'd rather be with, with this BOB than with me... okay... I can see how squirrel life is so much better than being with ME!" 

"Yes, Bob is much better company then YOU!" Harry agreed jokingly. Ron punched him in the shoulder. Harry started laughing. Ron joined in a moment later. 

~*~

The rest of the Weasley family were still sitting around the kitchen and living room, nervously waiting for Ron to return with Harry. Hermione was biting her fingernails and Ginny was pacing the room. 

Suddenly, the door burst open and Ron came in. 

"Do you know where the tent is?" Ron asked. 

"Ron! What?" Arthur said, jumping up. 

"Did you find Harry?"

"Yes," Ron said shortly, still searching for the tent. 

"Well…"

"We're going to go live with Bob."

"And just who is Bob?" Molly asked. 

"A squirrel friend. Harry introduced him to me. G'night Mum!" Ron kissed his mother on the cheek, and went back outside. Mrs. Weasley stared at her son as he disappeared into the night. 

She turned back to her husband.

"I don't know whether to kiss them for being okay, or to send them to St. Mungos," she said in a bewildered voice.


	4. Crumble

A.N. Sorry it took us so long to update!!!! We had loads of h-work and haven't been able to conference all that much about this story. But, I hope that you enjoy this chapter!!!!!!!!! Thanks to everyone that reviewed!!!!!!!! 

Quick AN from Tad: As this is my section, I'd like you all to understand a few things. I just got a new computer. I have to teach my word processor so many new words it's not even funny. So that's another reason this is taking so long to get out, on account of my Harry-Potter illiterate computer…. Grrrr

AN from SEEKER: Seeker-2000 would like to ask a big favor. Will you please read her best friends story, Harry Potter and the Century Sorceress. It may have the most mary-sue name in the world, but i assure u there are no evil tranfer students from America that fall in love with Harry and vice versa. Its main plot deals with Harry discovering that he has powers beyond the imagination. its a great story that no one reads and I cant figure out why. I wont update GONE until it has 5 more reviews! ha! How u like that?

Tadariada, SEEKER-2000 and Malena

P.S. In case you hadn't noticed, we all have an obsession with the name Bob.

Harry and Ron finally managed to get the tents set up without any help from any of the other Weasleys. They were still laughing about Bob, and making up interesting adventures that Bob had "gone on". Ron went in to the Burrow again and got their pajamas, while Harry set up their sleeping bags. 

"Ron, are you two going to be okay out there alone?" Mrs. Weasley asked anxiously, wringing a towel with worry. 

"Don't worry, we'll be fine," Ron said. "Besides, Herm and Gin are probably going to be happy that they won't have to listen to us snoring all night long. We are in the room above them."

"But I'm still worried. What if You-Know-Who comes!"

"I doubt that's going to happen," Ron said, although he got a bit nervous. "If it makes you feel a bit better we'll take our wands out with us."

"Oh, alright…" 

Ron dashed upstairs and grabbed the things that they needed for bed. 

"Bye mum!" Ron said, giving her another kiss on the cheek and dashing outside again. 

Harry flopped down on his sleeping bag and stared at the ceiling. Ron came in and tossed Harry's pajama's to him. 

"Mum's worried,' Ron snorted. "She thinks that You-Know-Who's going to come."

"Don't worry," Harry yawned. "I'll warn you if my scar hurts."

Ron laughed, "Okay, deal. I'm going to go to the bathroom, I'll be right back."

Harry just yawned again and rolled over. He got dressed and crawled into his sleeping bag again. A few minutes later he was asleep.

~*~

Knock. Knock. Knock. The sound was so faint that Mrs. and Mr. Weasley could hardly hear the noise. Mrs. Weasley stood up and looked out the window.

"Arthur!" She hissed. "Come look at this!"  
Arthur looked out the window and saw a tall person wearing a long, dark blue cloak. 

"Do you recognize him?" Molly asked.

"No, do you?"

"No."

Arthur frowned and slowly walked over to the door. 

"Who is it?" Arthur yelled.

"A friend," the voice said simply.

"But who?"

"I cannot divulge that information."

Arthur slowly unlocked the door and peeked out. 

"What do you want?" Arthur asked.

"I wish to speak with Harry." 

Molly's eyes widened and she quickly said, "He's asleep, come back tomorrow." 

The man snorted slightly, turned, and walked away. 

"I wonder who that was…"

Sirius Black walked down the path, glancing around the yard. A flickering light in the backyard caught his eye, and he journeyed over there. Someone had erected a tent, and there was a flashlight moving about inside.

Sirius lightly tapped on one of the poles.   
"Who is it?" Came Ron's urgent voice from inside. 

"Snuffles," Sirius said. There was a zipping sound and Ron's face poked out of the tent. He looked pale and frightened. 

"Are you okay, Ron?" Sirius asked, lowering his hood. 

"Er… yeah. You just startled me."

"Is Harry in there?"

"Yes, but he's sleeping."

"Can I come in?"  
"Sure." Ron opened the tent's door even wider and Sirius climbed in. Harry was curled up in one of the sleeping bags, breathing softly. Some of his hair fluttered whenever he exhaled. 

"So far this is one of the only nights he's slept peacefully," Ron said.

"Yeah, he told me he was having nightmares in one of his letters," Sirius said. "Do you know what they were about?" 

Ron sighed deeply and started to explain what they had done. Sirius just listened in silence, staring at his godson. After Ron had gone silent Sirius said, "You're a good friend, you know that Ron?"

Ron shrugged and looked at the tent wall.

"Really, it takes a true friend to do that for a friend, even if he doesn't want him to."

Ron gave a soft smile and said, "Thanks."

"I'd better be going," Sirius said, looking at his watch. "Will you tell Harry I was here, and that I'll visit again soon."

"Sure." 

Sirius smiled again and Disapparated out of the tent. 

Ron sighed, climbed into his own sleeping bag, and turned off the flashlight.

~*~

It was a clear, cloudless day when the Weasleys, Harry and Hermione ventured into the crowded streets of Diagon Alley. The kids all donned their Wizard robes for the occasion, so not to attract quite so many stares. 

It was a shorter list they shopped for this year, but the new DADA teacher hadn't assigned any new books, neither had Trelawney or Hagrid. So all they needed was a charms book, a potions book and of course a transfiguration book. Harry and Ron had to stop in Madame Malkin's robe shop to let down the hems on their school robes. (Boys grow around that age, so it was understandable) And Ron, grinning widely, showed Harry a pocket full of gold.

"Fred and George gave it to me." He said quietly. "To buy new robes." Harry had to hide his amusement. 

When they had finished, they met the rest of the group in Florean Fortescue's ice cream parlor for a bit of a rest. Harry, who was last to order, took his cone of Peanut Brittle Fudge ice cream and sat down. Hermione watched him vaguely as he ate it. Ron was going on about Quidditch, Fred and George were obviously plotting something by their tone and Ginny and Molly were chatting about something Hermione couldn't hear. 

Harry opened his mouth slightly to say something, when a sudden shiver went through him and his brows furrowed.

"What's wrong Harry?" She asked.

"N- Nothing." Harry said, looking at her. "Just a brain freeze. Ow." With a free hand he massaged his temples. "Hate those things."

"Yeah." Hermione said. "Me too…"

Harry flinched again.

"You gonna survive Harry?" Ron joked. Harry forced a little smile and nodded. 

"I'll - be fine." He wiped the corners of his mouth with a white paper napkin, and then crumpled it in his hand. "I'm just going to go throw this away. Be right back." He got up and stood there still for a while.

"Er…Harry?" Ron said. "Nap-kin?"

"We should go." Harry said quite suddenly.

Hermione laughed. "What?"

"We should really go."

"Harry, what are you on about?" Ron said. "We're not done shopping."

"Shopping can wait!" Harry snapped. "My scar hurts."

~*~

At once, everybody stood. They bundled up their purchases and walked out of the store very quickly. Dotted through the crowd were masked wizards, dressed in all black.

"Death Eaters!" Ron cried. The street went deathly quiet. A Death Eater took a step out of the shadows, laughed wickedly and then shouted an incantation. A green, glowing spark shot into the sky and exploded into the Dark Mark.

Screams and shouts ripped through the silence as people began to Apparate- and run- as fast as they could away from the spot. A large woman ran into Harry, knocking him to the ground. He stood up quickly and realized he had lost his glasses. He took a step forward, and of all the cliché things to happen, there was a crunch. He had found his glasses.

"Ron?" Harry said loudly. "Ron, where are you? Mrs. Weasley? Hermione? I stepped on my glasses- I can't see!"

Suddenly somebody braced his shoulder and dug a wand into his back. A dark, low voice hissed into his ear, "Move one inch and your eyes will be the least of your problems."

Harry froze, hardly daring to breath as the grip on his shoulder

got tighter. He shuddered, afraid. He dared not turn around to see who

the person was, and it wouldn't matter anyway sense he couldn't see. He tried

to think of something to do. He remembered the advice Aunt Petunia gave

Dudley when he was very little. 

__

"If a stranger ever tries to take you, you just hit him, okay Dudders?" 

Harry grimaced. He hated the thought of taking that woman's advice. In a

swift motion he turned very quickly and hit the Death Eater right in the gut. 

The Death Eater moaned and doubled over in pain, and Harry darted. 

He started running blindly through the crowd of people. Harry was unsure of whether or not the black cloaks in front of him were those of Death Eaters or of regular wizards, but he didn't care. He could make out a redheaded figure in the crowd far ahead of him, and he pushed through the people to get to it. People were fighting on both sides of him, going every which way. Several people were screaming, and explosions could be heard on both sides of the street. 

He heard an Unforgivable curse shot forth from the other side of the street and he paled. He prayed it wasn't on someone he knew. The redheaded figure he could barely make out over the crowd was becoming farther away from him. "RON!" He cried out desperately, hoping that Ron would slow down. 

On the other side of the street a Death Eater shot a spell over in Harry's direction. He aimed way to high, and it hit the building wall behind him. With a crackle, the building started to crumble on top of Harry and the crowd of people. 

The last thing he remembered seeing was the stone falling down on him and the rest, before he was pitched into complete and utter darkness.


	5. Painful Truth

A/N: Sorry, but we've been fighting over how to wound Harry bad enough.  Mal wants to baby Harry, so it couldn't be anything too serious. *Tad and Seeker stick out their tongues at Mal*

I hope you find the chapter is worth the wait!

Love,

Seeker and Tad (who wrote this without Mal's consent.) 

~* ~* ~* ~* ~*

Once his head began to clear, Harry tried to move, but the pain was overwhelming. His whole body felt like he had been beaten with sticks and stones. Come to think of it… he opened his eyes. It was so dark he couldn't see the tip of his nose. He knew what must have happened. The wall had collapsed. 

Harry could hear people around him. Some were shouting out orders, some screaming in pain from the fallen bricks. Somebody moved a rock above him and a crack of light crept through his stony confines. Another rock was moved.

"I think I found one, Pete!" Came a male's voice as yet another brick was pulled from on top of Harry. "Come help me out!"

"Help." Harry said and cleared his throat so the men could find him.  "Help!" Harry whispered through the pain. He cleared his throat again and said as loudly as he could "Help!"  

Suddenly two pairs of hands broke through the rubble and attached themselves onto Harry's shoulders and torso. He was yanked through the bricks into the light. 

"Eh, Pete, this one's that Harry Potter boy." Said his rescuer. "Can you stand?" He looked at Harry.

Harry couldn't move his neck or head from the pain.

"Atta boy!" Said the man called Pete. 

"Could you please just get me out of here?" Harry whimpered, looking at him. "I don't feel so-" The strong hands supporting him left his side as he felt his own eyes roll to the back of his. The immense pain finally overcame him. The breath caught in his chest as he fell to the ground and fainted. 

~* ~* ~* ~* ~*

Mrs. Weasley put her head in her hands.  The events of that morning were still so upsetting to her that she hadn't stopped crying for hours. She was sitting in the living room of the Burrow and she had no intention of moving until she got word of Harry.

Arthur burst through the front door just then, calling to her, "Molly! Molly where are you?"

She made no effort to smarten herself in front of her husband, she simply ran to him and he wrapped his arms around her as she sobbed. After a while she calmed down enough to look up into his eyes and ask shakily, "How is everybody? Did they find Harry- is he all right?  Arthur I-"  

"Shh, shh." Arthur said, and pet her hair. "Everybody is fine. Harry is beaten up, but he is alive and he's in the hospital."  

"Where are Ron and Hermione- are they…?"

"They are with Harry at St. Mungos, waiting for him to wake up." Arthur said. 

"He's not awake?" Molly implored, "What-"

"He fainted." Arthur said. He pulled out of the hug and held her shoulders. "He's fine Molly, stop worrying."

She nodded reluctantly. "I guess there isn't anything more that we can do. Did you give them floo power so they can get home?"

"Yes." Arthur said. "Now let's get some sleep-"

There was a knock at the door. Arthur paused on the stairs for a moment, before walking down again and opening the door, muttering "Who could it be, this late…."

There was a tall, thin man dressed in black, tattered robes that were smoking at the ends slightly.

"Yes?" Arthur said, fingering the wand in his pocket. He didn't trust this person, and he hadn't said a thing yet.

"Is Ron Weasley in the house?" Asked the man in a slick monotone voice.

"No." Mr. Weasley said firmly. "May I ask who you are so I can inform him later?"

"I'm nobody of consequence." The man said, turning around slowly. "I'll find him out… later. Good night to you." He disappeared into the blackness of the night.

~* ~* ~* ~*

Harry jolted out of his sleep. Thinking about the odd dream he had just had, he looked around. He was in a white room. The sheets on his bed were white, the walls were white. The only thing that wasn't white in fact was a golden crucifix hanging on the wall opposite of the bed, in Harry's clear view.

_Oh lord, I've gone to heaven. He thought to himself, still looking around. __And there's an angel. A woman dressed in a white dress was coming near to him. He gulped._

"Oh you're up." She said in a not so sweet voice. Suddenly his vision cleared. The angel was an overweight redhead woman holding up a very large needle. "Hold still."

 _Never mind._

She took the needle out of his arm and wiped it masochistically on her dress. "I'll be back in two hours." She was almost out of the door before adding, "You have some guests."  

Harry's eyebrows rose. _Where the hell am I? It hit him as soon as Ron and Hermione came rushing into the room, looking worried._

"Harry!" Hermione said. "You're all right! We were so-"

"Worried?" Harry finished, cutting her off. "When are you not worried about me? I swear, I think I hear you say that 6 times a year."

Ron laughed and Harry smiled over at him. Hermione crossed her arms. "Sorry, I'll never care about you again Harry."

"It's just silly." Harry said, shrugging. "I mean, when have I not been okay after something like this?"

"Well…" Hermione thought back and drew blanks. "You wont always be so lucky, Harry! It doesn't do to be so sure of yourself."

"Do you know when you get out?" Ron asked, tactfully changing the subject. 

"They haven't told me anything." Harry said. "But if you really want to know, you can talk to that extremely frightening woman who let you in."

Ron and Hermione looked at each other and laughed, only half understanding. 

"Well, we're really glad you're okay." Hermione said. "I don't care how often I say it, Harry. We'd miss you if you died." Harry snorted and she continued. "But it's got too be 2 o'clock and I'm really tired- so is Ron, I think so-"

"Go, then." Harry said. "You shouldn't have even stayed. Didn't they tell you I would be fine?"

"Well, yes, but we thought we ought to stay anyways." Ron said. "You know, seeing that you're our best friend and whatnot. So we're leaving you now. Bye Harry."

They waved and walked out of the room, smiling. Harry took a deep breath and fell onto his fluffy white pillows.

~* ~* ~* ~*

"Wake up Mr. Potter." Came the gruff voice of his nurse. "Yes, that's it. Wake up. You're physical therapist is here." 

Harry's opened his eyes to look at the bright light of the full morning. Somebody handed him his glasses, which he put on immediately. Slowly the room slid into focus. He blinked a few times before saying, "Physical therapist?"

"Yes, to help you with your leg."

"What are you talking about?" Harry said, looking at his legs. They both looked fine to him. 

"Your right leg is going to be a bit of trouble." Said another woman that Harry hadn't seen. "Now, come on Mr. Potter, sit up from your bed. All your other breaks were fixed hours ago. Nothing should hurt you. Good boy. Now, swing your legs off the bed for me. No, no, Mr. Potter, don't stand up yet, you aren't ready for that. Now move your left foot for me. Ah, well done. Now swing your left leg. A little bit farther than that. Does your knee hurt? A little, eh? Hmm, I'd better write that down."

"What's happened?" Harry asked in a slight panic. "What's wrong with my leg?" 

"Nothing that will impair you too much, no need to worry, it's just very weak," Said the physical therapist.

"Why?" Harry asked. 

"You broke it." She said, as if this was obvious.

"You can fix that though. Look! You have. It's fine. Just stiff… I mean, I should be fine and-"

"Stop babbling." The nurse commanded. Harry glared at her fiercely. She pressed her lips together and glared back.

"You hit a growth plate." The physical therapist said calmly. "There's always a problem when you hit a growth plate, magical remedy or no. I'm sorry. Don't worry, Mr. Potter, you'll walk just fine! It's just going to take practice."

Harry looked at her incredulously. He had walked into a nightmare, which was the only logical answer to this madness. 

"Now, give us your arms, Harry." The physical therapist said. Harry flinched when he heard his name. He was getting used to being called Mr. Potter. He numbly gave the women his arms, which they supported firmly. "That's it. Now, slowly, GENTLY stand up."

Harry did so and nearly collapsed. His leg gave a twitch and he wavered, only to be gripped firmly and stabled again by the nurse and the therapist. 

"Good try, Harry, good try. Now let's try this again." Harry sat and stood up four more times before getting it. "Ah, you're quick." The Therapist praised. "You'll be fine in no time."

"I'll be a laughing stock in school if I can barely stand." Harry muttered.

"Nonsense!" The therapist chuckled. "You'll be fine. I told you that. Now, let's try taking a step."

~* ~* ~* ~* 

That night, around 6:30, Ron and Hermione appeared in Harry's room, smiling. He scowled at them. "Hey." He said, almost harshly.

"Hi Harry!" Hermione said, still happy. They sat in chairs around Harry's bed. "How was your day?"

"Awful, and yours?" Harry said.

  
"It's got to be boring in this hospital room. We should bring you a book or something." Hermione said.

"We went to the paddock today." Ron said. "Just to get out of the house. Fred and George have a new jelly-legs gag cooked up and we were a bit afraid we'd never walk again if we ate anything today…." Ron and Hermione laughed.

_Oh the irony, Harry thought bitterly, but forced a smile. "That would be a bit unnerving."_

"Oh, I'll say." Hermione said. "Fred and George are quite a pair." 

"Harry, when are you going to get out of here?" Hermione asked. "Today just wasn't the same without you. No offense, Ron."  Ron shrugged.

"They won't tell me."  Harry said. "They don't know."

"What could they possibly do with you now though?" Ron said. "I mean, your bones are healed- even all those scrapes you had are gone." 

Harry let out a short hallow laugh. "You have no idea how much they have to do with me."

"Harry?" Hermione asked slowly, looking a bit frightened. 

"I can't walk." Harry spat. "Well, I can, if you call three steps walking. When I broke my leg in the wreck, I hit a growth plate. Something about that screwed up the spell they use to fix breaks."

Hermione's face fell and she said in a deflated voice, "You're kidding me, right?"

Harry ran his tongue over his teeth. "You want me to show you my walking skills, because I'd rather save my dignity." 

Ron wasn't looking at Harry when he asked, "But you're going to be able to walk eventually, right?"

"Eventually." Harry said. "The therapist says I learn quick and it shouldn't take long but the Nazi Nurse out there says I'll probably have a really bad limp."

  
"Well that's not so bad then!" Hermione said. "I mean, lots of people have limps!"

Harry glared at her words and said pointedly, "Like whom?"

"Like…um…Mr. Filch?" 

"Oh, well you just made _my day." Harry said bitterly. "__Thank you, Hermione."_

"At least you lived." Hermione said quickly. "I don't know if you heard or not, but four people died when that wall crumbled. I think a limp is a little better than losing your life!"

"It still sucks." Harry said. "At least the dead people won't get laughed at in school."

"IS that what you're worried about?" Ron said, looking at Harry oddly. "Get off your high horse, Harry. If anything, they'll be supportive of you. Four people _died Harry. There were only 15 people in the accident. That's almost a third dead."_

Harry had nothing to say to this. His nerves had been frazzled before this and this news didn't help. His heart sank. The curse shot at the wall was meant for him, not the other 14 in the accident. 4 people had died because of him two days ago. Harry had un-intentionally killed 5 people now, in the course of a month and a half. 

Harry Potter was a murderer. 

~* ~* ~* ~*

A/N: Well, I hope it didn't bore you too much. I tried really hard (this is Tadariada, by the way. I wrote the last half of this chapter) to make it interesting, do tell me if I failed. Actually, on second thought, don't tell me. I want to hear how much you _loved it, not how much you __hated it. Ugh. Decisions, decisions. _

Anyways, now that its summer and all three of us are out of school, the chapters should come up more frequently. Sorry again for the wait! WE LOVE YOU ALL!

~Tadariada (plus Malena and SEEKER-2000, in spirit, of course)


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